1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communicating over a network, particularly to selecting a recipient device with which to communicate.
2. Description of Related Art
Communication can become quite complicated in today's world. Referring to FIG. 1, a sender 40 attempting to communicate with a recipient over a network 52 will often have to evaluate many factors to decide the best channel to communicate with a recipient. The recipient may have many types of communication devices, such as a home phone 50, work phone 48, cellular phone 42, personal computer 44, work computer 46, and VolP phone, pager, PDA (not shown) with which he may be contacted. A sender 40 is required to decide with which recipient device 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 he should target, or resort to attempting each one at a time, until the right device is found. Furthermore, the sender 40 may desire to communicate to the recipient using a specific communication mode, for example, by voice mail messaging 54. Some of the recipient devices 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 may not be able to receive a voice mail messaging 54. Thus, when communicating with a recipient, the sender 40 is required to keep a mental log of multiple recipients, all of the recipient devices 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 each recipient possesses, as well as the available communication modes of each recipient device. Furthermore, some recipient devices 42, 44, 46, 48, 50 may not always be in use. For example, the work phone 48 of the recipient may only be used during work hours, but not otherwise.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,240 to Lim et al. teaches a method for creating an end-to-end connection between a first telephone and a communication device through a unified messaging system. The creation of the end-to-end connection between the first telephone and the communication device is performed responsive to verbal input from a user of the first telephone. The method includes receiving at the unified messaging system the verbal input from the user through the first telephone. The method further includes performing voice recognition on the verbal input. There is also included detecting an action word from the verbal input after the performing voice recognition. The action word is indicative of a communication service desired by the user in creating the end-to-end connection. Additionally, there is included detecting at least one of a called party identity and contacting data from the verbal input after the detecting the action word. While the method of Lim teaches a voice-activated system to select a called party, there is no teaching directed to a system selecting a recipient device for a sender based upon the chosen communication mode of the sender, or on the capabilities of the recipient's devices. A sender is still required to determine these factors himself.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved communication method that selects a recipient device for a sender. It would be desirable that the improved communication method selects the best available communication mode and/or a compatible recipient device to the sender's choice of communication mode. Furthermore, it would be desirable that the improved communication method formats the sender's communication mode if it is not compatible with a recipient device. Moreover it would be desirable that the improved communication method account for a multitude of desirable criteria when selecting a recipient device including whether the recipient is present with a recipient device and also account for the nature of the presence.